I suppose some people can fall under a category of behavior only... and I do not say this in a judgemental way. I do acknowledge that some people have psychological issues that affect weight. Also some people simply have financial and or educational issues to contend with. Either way it was never a "choice" as insinuated. Be it depression , disease , or genetics I assure you no one sits there and chooses it. There may be size activists after the fact choosing to live their life to the fullest despite ridicule ( my hero's!) but they still didnt choose to be the chubby kid etc.
But I am talking about shaming people and blaming them for somehow "choosing" a body type other people don't approve of. That it is a decision consciously made out of sloth. The popular opinion is that if you are fat you are (stereotyping comments here) "lazy" " a pig" "eating too much" "sitting on the couch all day" .
I have been alive for 48 years. I don't see anyone asking thin people how they got thin unless it is "super sexy gym type thin" .. For average people I don't hear anyone say "What did you do to be an average weight , or slender? " " What caused this??!!!". No one looks for a cause to a size 10 or below in a females closet . However if you get to a size 16 or above then you did something to cause it and it's all your fault , you must be "fixed"! When people fall under the "fat" category the fear explodes. The masses need to "control it" and once they come up with reasons maybe it won't happen to them. Example: ... "If I don't eat Doritos I won't get fat" , "I can control it, they can't"... type of thinking. Simplistic cause and effect via small minds.
So for average or slender people who don't have time (or inclination) for the gym are ok. There is no "healthism" for them. Not everyone is choosing their pant size, it's just the size they are by nature. Because they look fine in a bathing suit via popular opinion. Because we are told they are healthy because they look a certain way. ( This is nothing but control issues, fear of death). What if they aren't?! What if a young man has a huge tumor and no one bothers to look , because his belt size indicates a desirable health and appearance combo?!
For example two kids sit on a couch playing video games and eating popcorn .. the fat kid is considered to be "out of control" and choosing his " jelly rolls?! And the thin one is just playing video games and having a snack?! Doesn't anyone see how this is messed up?!
So the mother has to explain to her kid that he isn't like the others and can't eat the popcorn if he wants to try to be thin?! How do you explain the science involved in weight issues ( more complicated than CICO folks!) to a teen who just wants to live in peace like everyone else?! How do you say anything that would not making him feel "different" or shamed? And why does this even have to be an issue?! Meanwhile the other thin teen never gets looked at by a doctor because he was assumed to be healthy. ( I have witnessed this type of scenario folks stories for another time).
Yo Yo dieting will mak you much fatter than you ever would have been. Fact. If kids were left alone to be chubby they may not develop eating disorders and become "obese" adults. Bloody hell I hate that word "obese" .
Neither of them are choosing anything , they are just being kids.
Until we really know 100% what causes the tendency to weigh more I think people just need to shut up.
Seriously , I have had it. I am 48 , I have a slow thyroid , PCOS , Hormones are especially wacky this summer. I gave up red meat and started eating chicken and salad, dumbest thing I ever did , I am so bloated I could float. I struggle not to get past a certain weight. I ask my doctor and it's "menopause" issues. I guess I am "choosing" that too....
Yes indeed! I am choosing menopause! I just asked for the old lady fairy to switch up my hormones in the maddest possible way! Yup , that's me .. I "AM" that powerful! Can't you see my golden fairy dust?!?? I decide when my cells hold excessive water. I decide the forever changing shape of my face the next morning. Obviously being sarcastic here... But to make a point . Even with diuretics twice a day this summer I am holding water in my face and neck area for "whatever reason" ( menopause?!) .. do I have to explain this to friends and foe alike?! I look bigger because I am not menstruating now.. the water is "collecting" so I was told.. Does anyone even want to hear this?! NO! Heck I don't even want to hear it or think it. But since it's visual.. maybe I need to explain!? People worry... and point or comment...ugh... so no I am not worshipping the Twinkies Gods ok?!
If I can't control these issues, who is to say anyone else can control anything their body does 100%?! We can nudge things a certain way. But we can't decide to make our health or weight to always be optimal. If we controlled half of the things that we are misguided to believe that we can control then no one would be dying of cancer or suffering from diseases. Period.
So telling a fat person they "did it to themselves" is just as messed up as telling someone with the flu that they made it happen.. if only they washed their hands more.. or had a better immune system.... Who knows why one person got the flu and another went all winter without so much as a tickle in their throats. It wasn't chosen. It just "was" . same with intelligence etc, sometimes it just is. I could go to college , but I will never be an academic, I am not wired that way.. I don't choose to be less intelligent , I do not have an automatic innate knowledge of many subjects.. it just is..
Seriously folks who do this shaming need to check themselves. I am not saying people can't look at themselves realistically and gauge what is going on with their health or weight , (Behavior, eating habits , disease , side effects from Pharma etc). I am not advocating for idiot behavior and denial but I am just suggesting not to take on the blame of the world when the physical is "bigger" than what society thinks you should be. That's the lie! That's the shaming. Anyone can choose to eat healthier big or small , does not guarantee particular results. Be realistic , don't take on the weight of the world , eat healthy , move , and if it is a size 14 instead of a 10 then its OK... you aren't commiting a crime. Same for men too...
I eat one meal a day with about 10 -12 hours of fasting in between due to my sleeplessness issues. I do not snack unless my blood sugar is low and then it is nuts or a clementine. I could allow myself to get depressed and easily snuggle up on the couch and make friends with a pint of Chunky Monkey but Ben and Jerry do not enter my freezer . So I am choosing not get bigger , attempting to maintain at this point. I don't rule out ever losing weight but I don't think it will be my "choice" , something will happen to shift it one way or another.
If I could choose I wouldn't be this particular size, so please people do NOT tell me that I choose this or am doing it to myself. One week in my shoes and guaranteed these types would shut up for once.
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